Muhammadiyah announces board, fails to include women member
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Muhammadiyah announced here on Monday its new central executive board comprising 18 members, including 13 people elected during the recent national congress of the country's second largest Muslim organization.
Despite calls from some women members of the organization, the new board does not include any women.
The board includes former Muhammadiyah leaders Ahmad Syafii Maarif and Amien Rais, who were named advisers to the central board.
The new lineup for the 2005-2010 period was decided on during a plenary meeting of Muhammadiyah in Yogyakarta on Sunday, which was presided over by the organization's new leader, Din Syamsuddin, who is also the secretary-general of the Indonesian Ulema Council.
The board includes seven deputy chairmen, including current national education minister Bambang Sudibyo and his predecessor Malik Fadjar, as well as Haedar Nashir.
The new secretary-general of the 30-million strong organization is Rosyad Sholeh, with Amien's younger brother Dahlan Rais and Goodwill Zubair as his deputies.
The central board appointed Zamroni as the treasurer and Fasichul Lisan as his deputy.
Rosyad was nominated by failed presidential candidate Amien to replace Syafii Maarif during the 45th leadership congress of Muhammadiyah in Malang, East Java, that ended on July 8.
The appointment of Rosyad as the new secretary-general appeared to be a compromise move between Din's camp and the rival faction led by Amien.
Din topped the votes in the election of 13 new board members at the congress from a list of 39 names that had been selected earlier during a national conference. On the final day of the congress, the 13 board members convened and named Din as Muhammadiyah's new leader.
"The number of executive board members is maintained as 13 people. After working, we will evaluate it and determine whether there is a need to increase it or not," Din said when announcing the new lineup at Muhammadiyah's Yogyakarta office.
In the same news conference, Haedar Nashir said that under the new leadership Muhammadiyah would focus on efforts to revitalize the organization by strengthening and empowering its social and educational movements.
He said the organization's priority would be 10 issues, including increasing Muhammadiyah's social role at the international, national and local levels.
I-box
New lineup of Muhammadiyah
Advisers: Ahmad Syafii Maarif, Amien Rais, Asjmuni Abdurrachman, Ismail Suny and Abdurrahim Noor.
General Chairman: Din Syamsuddin
Chairmen: Haedar Nashir, Bambang Sudibyo, Malik Fadjar, Muhammad Mogaddas, Yunahar Ilyas, Sudibyo Markus and Muchlas Abror.
Secretary-General: Rosyad Sholeh Secretary: Dahlan Rais and Goodwill Zubir
General Treasurer: Zamroni Treasurer: Fasichul Lisan.